Page 67 of Caleb's Salvation
I’d parked across the street from the only diner I’d spotted. Not even sure if that’s where she’d worked, but it called to me anyway.
Crossing the street wasn’t an issue as there was no traffic in the middle of the day. I opened the door to the diner and heard a familiar ring sound above my head. I watched as most of the folks in the place turned to see who’d come in.
In seconds they assessed me.
A stranger.
Their expressions not too unfamiliar from how the folks at Bud’s reacted anytime there was someone new in town. I put my head down and made my way to the counter and took a stool that was bolted to the floor.
A waitress, maybe mid-forties, a bit tired, immediately showed up with a coffeepot in hand. She poured me a cup without a word and left without taking an order. I sipped the coffee and wondered, not for the first time, what the fuck was I doing here.
A couple minutes later she was back with a small notepad.
Vivienne didn’t carry one at Bud’s. She’d gotten to be a pro at memorizing the orders from the guys.
“Hi,” she said curtly with a deep Texas twang. “What can I get you?”
It was strange but there was a time when someone would ask me those generic questions and I would think,I want my wife and child back.As if the person asking wasn’t some waitress trying to do her job but instead a magic fairy ready to grant me my deepest wish.
This time I didn’t think about Sarah and Emily. This time I thought about Hope’s Point and what I’d left behind.
“Tuna melt,” I muttered saying the first thing that came to mind.
“Something else to drink?”
I shook my head then stopped. “Hey,” I asked, before she turned away. “I’m looking for someone named Vivienne Chester.”
“Viv?” the woman asked surprise etched into her face. “Yeah, she worked here, ’bout a year ago, but she’s long gone. Got herself knocked up and had to take off.”
“You don’t know where she went.”
The woman shook her head then shrugged as if it was not her problem. “Nope.”
I nodded and the woman walked away. I had to tamp down the sudden burst of anger I felt. How was it that someone could have known Vivienne and cared so little about what happened to her and Sam?
The bell above the door rang again but I didn’t bother to turn around. I did, however, notice the arrival of someone new at the counter. He was tall, over six-foot, heavy boots, red ball cap that advertised Tucker Trucking Co.
“Hey, Betty,” he called out to the waitress behind the counter.
“In a second, Dave.”
Dave.
No, it wasn’t possible. Although Vivienne had said his route took him by this town. I looked at him again, closer this time. Sandy hair, hazel eyes, mid-thirties. It could have been a total coincidence. A guy with a trucking hat, named Dave, having lunch in the diner where Vivienne used to work. I turned, looking out the windows to see if I could spot a rig, but I realized he would have parked behind the building. Somewhere with more room.
He caught me staring and dipped his chin as if to acknowledge me. I could see nothing of Sam in this man’s face, but would I? Babies were babies as far as I was concerned, and they looked like themselves. No matter how many times Sarah used to say Emily resembled me, all I ever saw was Emily.
“Can I help you?” he asked, now seemingly agitated that I wasn’t looking away.
“You come here a lot?” I wanted to know.
“Now and again. I’ve got a route takes me through this town often enough. Why you askin’?”
Safe to come back now that she was gone, the fucker.
“You know a young woman who used to work here? Named Vivienne. Red hair, hazel eyes.”
Instantly, his expression changed, shut down even more. He looked away from me and shook his head. “Nope. Doesn’t sound familiar.”
